Superbowl Commercial #FAIL

I know I’m just one of thousands of bloggers playing Monday morning quarterback to Sunday’s game, but not about the final outcome. There’s only so many times I can relive that horrible ending.
Johnsonbrady
Suffice it to say that, much like talented guitarist Tommy Johnson in O Brother, Where Art Thou, Tom Brady has sold his soul to the devil in exchange for numerous trips to the Superbowl. Because nobody’s that lucky. (Okay, y’all. I’m almost done hating on Tom Brady. Bear with me–it’s a process. I’m sure he’s a great guy and my dislike of him is completely irrational.)

But I digress…

What was your favorite Superbowl commercial? Many would vote for the Budweiser commercial featuring the cute puppy and the Clydesdale horses.

Those sentimental Budweiser commercials are always great. We love the funny ones, the ridiculous and outrageous ones, but we’ve also come to expect the ones we can allow to unabashedly, unapologetically pull at our heartstrings.

GoDaddy thought they would score some points in the “ridiculous and outrageous” category by airing this commercial poking fun at Budweiser:

But when the ad aired early, public backlash on social media was so intense that they decided to pull it, offering this public apology:

“This morning we previewed GoDaddy’s Super Bowl spot on a popular talk show, and shortly after a controversy started to swirl about Buddy, our puppy, being sold online. The responses were emotional and direct. Many people urged us not to run the ad…. The net result? We are pulling the ad from the Super Bowl. You’ll still see us in the Big Game this year, and we hope it makes you laugh. Finally, rest assured, Buddy came to us from a reputable and loving breeder in California. He’s now part of the GoDaddy family as our Chief Companion Officer and he’s been adopted permanently by one of our longtime employees.”

Instead, they ran this ad:

While the public apology may have smoothed over the feathers of animal rights activists and puppy lovers, for me, the replacement commercial seemed like a non-apology apology. Sort of like when a public figure says something horribly offensive then holds a press conference and says, “I deeply regret if the words I chose offended some people.” They’re not really apologizing for being douchy, they’re just sorry that they have to say they’re sorry. Because while the commercial does better reflect the services that GoDaddy offers, they still can’t help but take a dig at Budweiser’s puppy commercial. It comes off as sophomoric and petty, which for me, is pretty much par for the course when it comes to GoDaddy Superbowl commercials.

In years past they have run an ad featuring bodybuilders running towards a spray tan shop, including a freakishly muscular CGI’ed Danica Patrick (their spokesperson) among them and an ad featuring Danica Patrick (again) and a supermodel and be-speckled nerdy looking guy locked in a rather cringe-worthy kiss.

There are a couple of reasons why GoDaddy’s ads never work for me. The first is Danica Patrick.
Danica Patrick
Personally? I have nothing against her. She’s beautiful, smart and a savvy business person who also happens to be a race car driver. But if GoDaddy is counting on attracting the NASCAR demographic with her, they might want to hire a driver that actually wins races. She still has her supporters, but  many fans believe that Patrick did not deserve to be in NASCAR’s all-star race — which typically is reserved for race winners and the most accomplished drivers — and resent the fact that she got in through the Sprint Fan Vote.

The second reason the ads don’t work for me is that there is an underlying cruel mockery in them. Is anyone really buying that the supermodel is genuinely attracted to the nerdy guy? I certainly didn’t. It just left me feeling uncomfortable for both of them. The bodybuilders racing towards the spray tan place commercial only works if you think all body builders are a bunch of meat headed idiots who deserve to be made fun of.

Am I completely off base about these ads, or do the creators of these commercials remind anyone else of that cruel bully you went to school with who tries to get a laugh at the expense of someone else?
back to the future
That’s not funny to me.

To me, THIS is funny:

And I love that a regular guy won a million dollars for making it.

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